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Announcement from Commissioners in Bristol and South Gloucestershire

A £34.6 million contract has been agreed with a new partnership of experienced, local, not for profit and NHS healthcare providers led by Sirona care & health CIC, to deliver community health services for children and young people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

This follows extensive involvement of young people, their families, carers and professionals advising NHS Bristol and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups and their partners as to exactly what they would like to see from children’s community health services.

Through the consultation process, young people advised that they would like a reduction in waiting times, earlier interventions, flexible appointment times and coordinated care through a key worker model. All of these elements will be delivered over the lifetime of the new contract. A full consultation report is available on the CCGs’ websites (see Notes to Editors)

Feedback was received from over 1200 service users, their families and carers. Many of this came as a result of an innovative, interactive website www.yourhealthyfuture.org created specifically for this consultation.

Services that fall within the scope of this contract include; health visiting, school nursing, child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS), speech and language therapy (SALT), occupational therapy and physiotherapy, community paediatricians, community nursing and a range of dedicated services for vulnerable children including children in care, children with learning disabilities, children with life limiting conditions and children with drug and alcohol problems.

The successful partnership will be led by Sirona care & health and include Bristol Community Health CIC, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.

The contract has been awarded following a competitive tender process, led by NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group on behalf of NHS South Gloucestershire, Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and NHS England.

The decision was made this week by the Governing Bodies of NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group (Tuesday 29 November) and NHS South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (Wednesday 30 November). A 10-day stand-still period will now take place before heads of terms are signed with the prime provider.

“Firstly I want to offer our sincere thanks to the young people who gave their time and energy to this process in helping us draw up what services would look like and evaluate the bids.

“As a result, the children and young people of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and their families and carers will have coordinated, person-centred care, designed around their own individual needs.

“This partnership, under the experienced leadership of Sirona care & health, has demonstrated that it can deliver first class community health services with the needs of young people and their families firmly at the heart.”

Becky Pollard, Bristol’s director of public health said:

“I am pleased that following an extensive consultation, young people in the area will continue to benefit from strong community health services, which are designed to support children when they need extra help.”

Professor Mark Pietroni, South Gloucestershire’s director of public health, said:

“This new contract for a range of children and young people’s community health services has been developed following extensive involvement of young people, their families, carers and professionals. We have listened carefully to all of the feedback received through the consultation and look forward to working closely with our partners to continue to improve the care and support offered.”

Janet Rowse, chief executive of Sirona care & health, added: “Together with our partners in Bristol Community Health, Avon and Wiltshire NHS Partnership Trust and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, we are committed to providing the best possible care and support for children, young people and their families in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

“Since we were awarded the one year contract in April 2016 we have seen some fantastic work from staff which we plan to build on further as we continue to improve what is offered over the next few years. We know that joined up services across areas and across physical and mental health services will be key to ensuring we can meet the needs of children and their families which is why our partnership working is so important to us.

“Crucial to this will be working with children, young people and their families so we understand what they want, what they need and how they would like the services to be provided. They will be an integral part of developing the services for the future.”

The new contract will take effect from 1 April 2017 and run until 31 March 2022.

Children and young people receiving services will be fully informed of the changes. Sirona care & health will ensure continuity of care for all patients as they move from interim to long-term provider.

Under a separate commissioning process, Leap Valley Surgery has been awarded the contract to provide the Paediatric Primary Care Clinical Support Service for Bristol and South Gloucestershire with effect from 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2022.